Judge should have considered our settlement – Chaaban’s lawyers

Jihad Chaaban, supervisor at the Abelemkpe branch of Marwako restaurant

The lawyer for Jihad Chaaban, the supervisor at the Abelemkpe branch of Marwako restaurant jailed for assaulting one of his employees, believes the judge should have considered the settlement agreement his client reached with his victim.

This is despite the judge explaining that she rejected the settlement by the two parties because the matter before the court was criminal and not a civil one.

The lawyer, Julio De Medeiros, maintained that the dispute had been settled out of court with the victim, Evelyn Boakye.

“The judge, in considering our plea for litigation, should have looked at the settlement… The judge should have at least considered the settlement. She said it was off the table. I didn’t understand what she meant by that but she has spoken. I have nothing to say about that.”

The judge, Victoria Eggs Ghansah, after considering the settlement, sentenced Chaaban to nine months on charges of offensive conduct for calling the victim a prostitute and intentionally and unlawfully causing harm and assault.

She said the prosecution had been able to prove beyond every reasonable doubt that the accused committed the offense.

Chaaban, was reported in February to have shoved the victim, Evelyn Boakye, into some pepper, generating public outcry.

He has since instructed his lawyers to file an appeal against the sentence as he disagrees with the sentence.

Julio De Medeiros said to the media after proceedings in court, “we entirely disagree with the findings of the court. We thought that we put up a very good defense. She [the judge] thought otherwise.”

“The real investigator of the case said from the evidence before her it was an accident. We have said it was an accident, she thought otherwise. We have taken instructions from our client to appeal immediately. We are going back to the chambers to start working on the appeal process,” the lawyer said.